National Digital Library of India dedicated to the Nation

(19 June 2018) The Union Human Resource Development Minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar launched the new digital initiative of HRD Ministry. National Digital Library of India,on the occasion of National Reading Day in New Delhi today. This National Digital Library of India (NDLI) is a project of the Ministry of Human Resource Development under the aegis of National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT). The objective of NDL is to make digital educational resources available to all citizens of the country to empower, inspire and encourage learning. National Digital Library of India is developed by IIT Kharagpur.

NDL is the single window platform that collects and collates metadata from premier learning institutions in India and abroad, as well as other relevant sources. It is a digital repository containing textbooks, articles, videos, audio books, lectures, simulations, fiction and all other kinds of learning media.

Speaking on the occasion the Minister said that a new era of Digital India has begun as we dedicate this Digital Library to the Nation. He said that the National Digital Library is a 24×7 ubiquitous knowledge resource that is accessible to anyone with internet access and it is built to enable the rise of Digital India. The Minister said that anybody can access the digital library anytime and anywhere absolutely free of cost and will contribute greatly to the Government’s commitment towards “Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat”.

The Minister explained that NDLI is a digital library that makes quality learning resources available to all learners and has 1.7 Crore [17 million] content from more than 160 sources, in over 200 languages, with 30 lakh [3 million] registered users. The target is to increase the number of users 10 times in a year. He said that the NDLI platform is collaborative in nature and extended his regards to contributing institutions which have made available their digital repositories for integration with NDLI.

Shri Prakash Javadekar added that apart from the website, NDL is also available on the mobile app. NDLI Mobile app is enabling access to rich digital content of libraries across the country and even foreign repositories to users even in the remotest of areas. He further said that the App, which has been downloaded over 6.70 lakh times, is currently available for both iPhone and Android users. Users can search for content using various parameters like subject matter, source, content type and more. Right now the app is available in three languages – English, Hindi and Bengali.